Max viewegee



(No Model.)

. M. VIEWEGER.

SKATING RINK.

Patented Sept. 23, 1884.

INVENTOR WWMWIWWIWWW WITNESSES W2 ATT RNEYS llmrnn STATES ATEN'I l FlCEO MAX VIEVVEGER, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

SKATING-RINK.

li-PECIPICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 305,551, dated September 23, 1884.

Application filed July 19, 1884. (No model.)

To till whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, MAX VIEWEGER, of St. Louis, in the county of St. Louis and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Skating-Rinks, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to an improved skating-rink on which the skating-floor is composed of a sheet of ice which is frozen and retained, so as to furnish a good skating-surface; and-the invention consists of a skating-rink consisting of afloor supported on parallel joists and boards, between which small interstices are formed. Upon the floor a layer of clay of uniform thickness is placed, on which water is frozen by spraying it thereon. When the upper floor is well sprayed, the lower floor is covered with water. This is continued until a sufficient thickness of ice is obtained. The skating-floor is inclosed by a building provided with sliding draft doors that extend down to the lower floor, so as to give their access to both floors.

In the accompanying drawings,Figure1 rep resents a perspective view with parts broken off of my improved skating-rink. Fig. 2 is a plan of the skating'floor with parts broken away, and Fig. 3 a vertical transverse section of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

My improved skating-rink consists of askating-floor, F, proper, which is supported on parallel joists J, andinclosed by a building B, of suitable height provided with verticallysliding draft-doors A, and a skylight in the roof of the building for admitting air and light. The joists are laid upon the ground G, which is properly leveled, andwhich forms the lower floor of myskating-rink. The direction of the joists should be from northwest to southwest, so as to facilitate the passage of the cold winds prevailing in the winter season. Upon the joists islaid a flooring, f, the boards of which are at such distance from each other that small interstices of about a quarter of an inch are when the thermometer is below the freezing.

til the ice reaches the necessary thickness for skating purposes. During the sprinkling operation the openings B of the building B, which openings reach down to the natural floor G, are opened to their full extent by raising the draft-doors A, as shown in Fig. 1, so that the air passes over both the. upper and lower floors. In warm weather the openings B are closed by lowering the draft-doors A, while in cold weather they are opened. The ice produced on this skating-floor will not melt so easily, as the warm air is excluded from the building, and as the lower floor, which is also covered with ice, will keep the air between the floors in a cold condition, so as to prevent the melting of the ice on the upper floor even in case theweather should turn warm. An-

other reason why the ice produced in the manner above described will not melt is the fact that this ice is formed on solid clay and not on water, and that the clay is kept extremely cold by the ice on the lower floor. The ice on ponds or rivers will naturally melt quicker because the water underneath the ice-sheet is much warmer than the ice above. Besides, the ice so built up is much harder and more solid than natural out-door ice,.as it willfnot contain any air-bubbles which are inclosed by the ice in ponds or rivers.

By means of the hydrants and sprinklers the entire floor may be quickly 0 ove r dwith an ice-sheet in a few minutes, which is an important point, because the less water is put down at one time the sooner it will freeze, and the oftener it is put on the thicker will be the ice. Experiments have shown thattin one night, with the thermometer at 28 Fahrenheit, one full inch of ice can be obtainedJgEIf cold weather continues for a few days, the process is repeated until a sheet of ice of considerable thickness is'obtained, while at the same temperature common ponds would have only a thin sheet of ice, not sufficient to admit skating. WVhen warm weather sets in the icefloor is protected by excluding the warm air and the ice-sheet of the lower floor'relied upon for cooling the air and floor above, so as to keep the ice of the upper floor in good condi tion for skating for a number of days.

Skating-rinks of this construction can be erected with advantage in all places in which the temperature frequently falls below' the freezing-point and then rises above the same. It will give an increased stimulus to the skatingsport, especially in the middle States of in good order even in a mild winter from sixty ;to ninety days in succession.

' this country, in which, owing to the frequent changesof temperature, a good sheet of ice outdoors cannot be depended upon for any length of time, while a sheet of ice formed in the manner above set forth can be maintained Havingthus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentl.' The combination, of an upper skating floor and a lower natural floor, both covered with ice, with an inclosing building having sliding draft doors extending down to the lower floor, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, of a skating floor formed of parallel supporting-joists, a floorposed of a lower natural floor covered with ice,

- substantially as set forth.

,tween them, a layer of clay on saidfloor, and

a, layer of ice on said clay, with a lower floor covered with ice, and with a building inclosing said floors, and provided with sliding draftdoors, substantially as described.

'3. In a skating-rink, a skating-floor com,-

parallel joists, a flooring of boards separated by interstices, a layer of clay on said floor, and a layer of ice on said layer of clay, sub:

I stantially as set forth.

4. In a skating-rink, a skating-floor composed of flooring of boards, a layer of clay, and a layer of ice on said clay, substantially as described.

5. The combination of askating-floor formed ofa lower natural floor, parallel joists, and an upper floor, with an inclosing building having draft-openings, and sliding doors reaching down to the lower floor, and hydrants at the different parts of the building, and provided with hose and suitable nozzlesfor covering the upper and lower'fioors with a sheet of ice,

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name in presence of two subscribing witnesses;

MAX VIEWEGER.

Witnesses:

F. R. HOLEMAN, RoBT. Poss. 

